Cars
by KittyBits
Summary: Of course Hermione's car would choose to break down in the middle of nowhere, especially, when in that middle of nowhere someone actually show up, before she gets to fix it with magic and then something oddly unchangeable happens. HG/JB
1. Car Trouble

**Disclaimer: Neither Harry Potter or Twilight is my property. **

**Author's note: A small oneshot that popped into mine while I was grumbling about ff . net not letting me update my main story.**

**This takes place **_**after**_** Bella and Edward marry, but she _doesn't_ get pregnant, have Nessie and the Volturi **_**does not**_** show up. It's three to four years after the Battle of Hogwarts, Hermione is working for the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, and I've really messed up the time lines to make everything work.**

**Anything besides this you'll figure out while reading :D**

She closed her door with a loud slam and stalked infuriated to the front of her car where smoke were billowing out from the sides. She opened the hood cautiously and eyed the smoking and scorching metal that made up the car's intestines.

Well, wasn't this great!

Growling she left the smoking engine and went to the other side of the car were she crouched down and inspected the flat tire.

At least a nice _Reparo_ could fix this one. Unfortunately the point of _reparo_ was actually knowing the repaired state – no use trying to use it on the stupid, bloody engine.

Hermione had absolutely no idea as to how cars worked or how their engines looked. She just liked the look of the old red Honda and it had been cheap.

She understood why now.

She groaned when she stood and shook her legs to regain complete feeling back. It sometimes surprised her how hard driving was. But it really shouldn't be _that_ surprising – is she knew how to adjust the setting of her chair she wouldn't have to sit on the edge of her seat to be able to reach the steering wheel, but she had of course been to embarrassed to ask the car salesman.

She walked back to the driver's side and withdrew her wand from under the seat. With the tire fixed, she might be able to somehow hex the car to keep driving until she reached Forks. There were only a few miles left.

Whistling The Weird Sister's Cauldron Canoodle she felt her spirits lift and she looked around her, for the first time really noticing her surroundings.

The forest was deep green and made her feel hidden and secure, as if she was the only person in the entire world. The light drizzle made her frizzy hair lay smooth and heavy down her back curling softly but also her skin feel clammy.

She was just about to dry herself when a loud "Hey!" made her look up and quickly throw her wand into the car again.

"Hi," she greeted the young man who cam jogging towards her clad only in a pair of cut-off shorts and pair of shoes. "Can I help you?"

"I think I should be the one asking that," he called back with a grin. "Car broke down?"

"Uh, yeah," Hermione pushed a lock of her wet hair behind her ear and smiled back sheepishly. "I guess. I don't really know anything about cars. Other than how to drive them." She eyed him carefully as he came nearer and her smile grew just a bit. Well, if he wasn't the epitome of tall, dark, and handsome. "I've got a flat tire too."

"You got yourself into quite a lot of trouble, Missy. And judging by your accent I'd say quite a long way from home too." His smile was very boyish, and Hermione couldn't seem to summon any cautious feelings when he held his hand out at her. "I'm Seth."

"Hermione. And you're right – I'm British." She noticed the wolfish quality to his grin and couldn't say she was surprised when his burning hot palm met her cool one. "Do you know anything about cars?"

"A bit I guess." He followed her to the front. "My... friend is a mechanic and I've seen him work."

Hermione watched him poke some of the different parts and noted that he almost didn't wince when he accidentally touched some of the hot ones.

She was going to have to write a report twice the length she had planned after this discovery.

Of course a town like Forks wasn't home only to a coven of vampires. They had to have their own tribe of what she guessed was wolf-shaped shape-shifters too.

Which was a title that sounded absolutely ridiculous.

"So?" she asked and looked expectantly at her saviour wolf. "Any idea what caused this?"

"You remember I mentioned my friend was a mechanic?" Hermione nodded and he grinned again. "I'm gonna have to call him. But I can help you fix your flat tire while we wait for him to come."

"That would be lovely," she smiled. She went back to the trunk and made sure that she actually had a spare tire while Seth made the phone call.

"Hey Jake, it's me," he said after a while, and Hermione attempted to get the tire out of the trunk. "... I know, but I came across of this broken down car and damsel in distress, and I have no idea what to do with this smoking mess..." She gave the tall man a dark looked and wondered if he actually was as old as his appearance seemed, she was aware that shape-shifters tended to have different ageing processes and he just seemed so _young_. "... 8 miles south of Forks... Great – I'll fix her flat tire while we wait..." Hermone gave up trying to lift the tire out of the trunk. It was too heavy for her to handle without magic, and that wasn't exactly a possible right now. "Of course I'm not gonna mess it up! Why do people always expect me to mess everything up?... You didn't have to answer that... Just finish up, and come already!... Right – see ya!"

Hermione leaned against the car and nodded towards the tire when Seth walked up to her, shoving a worn looking mobile in his pocket.

"Jacob's gonna be here in 15 or something. Plenty of time for us to fix that tire of yours." He smiled and lifted the new tire out of the trunk with a single hand, making Hermione smirk.

"Right front tire," she said and pointed over her shoulder. Seth nodded and walked over, Hermione right at his heels. "Is your friend Jacob a shape-shifter too?"

She loved knowing more than people thought she did, and Seth had apparently not had very high thoughts of her, judging by his startled deer in head lights look and gaping mouth.

"How did you know?" he asked in a hushed voice, as if scared that anyone would here them.

"I know the signs," she whispered back and sat on the ground next to the flat tire. "Well – is he?" she asked in her normal voice and leaned against the car.

"Um... yeah..." Seth eyed Hermione cautiously and started the tire-changing process. "He's my Alpha actually."

"Excellent! I would love to chat with him about the vampire population around here. Have you had any mugg-people disappearing lately?"

"No. We and the Cullen's have taken care of all intruding vampires." There was a note of pride in his voice.

"The Cullen's being the residing coven of 'vegetarian' vampires?" She could just _feel_ that something big and possibly historical had happened here. Seth nodded. "Care to share _how_ you took care of 'all intruding vampires'?"

"Um..." The young man looked a bit uncomfortable and Hermione had to fight the urge to just demand that he told her. "I don't think it's up to me to tell you this... Telling outsiders is really not something I'm allowed to do – that's Jacob's job..."

"Because of him being the Alpha?" The fact that the tribe had an _Alpha_ was another clue that they probably turned into wolves.

A bit predictable really.

"Er... yeah..." Seth glanced at her out of the corner of his eyes as he lifted the car a bit so he could get the tire loose.

"Great, I won't ask you more questions then, Seth." Hermione shot him her most charming smile and pushed her hair behind her ear.

Again.

Bloody rain was making it completely uncontrollable.

"Great!" Seth grinned back, instantly regaining his high spirits. "Mind telling me what you're doing here then? And how you know about shape-shifters and leeches?"

"Leeches is really demeaning – would you like it if I called you pup or dog?" Seth had the sense to look embarrassed. "And I'm here to do some observations of the vampire coven. We heard that they gained a new member, and we're all extremely interested in the business of the vegetarian covens."

"That's Bella – the new vampire! She's great. She was turned by her husband while they were on their honeymoon. Jacob was complete broken by it, and he's been terribly moody ever since – he was in love with Bella but she chose Edward over him. It's horrible to listen to really."

"To listen to? What – did he whine?"

"Not exactly. While we're in wolf form we communicate through our thoughts. It's totally easy and stuff, but it also means that we have to hear _all _of the others thoughts, and that not fun all the time."

"So your Alpha was in love with this new vampire? Before she was turned? How does he feel about it now then?"

"I think he's still in love with her. And he's _really_ bitter and stuff, because she wasn't his imprintee you know..." Seth smiled and dropped the car down as he fastened the last screw. "All done!" he exclaimed and dried his oily fingers off in his shorts.

"Don't do that," she scolded and Seth dropped his hand a slightly hurt look on his face. "I'm not familiar with this imprint thing. Would you mind explaining it to me?"

Seth face lit back up. "It's something genetic! All the shapeshifters apparently have a special someone that we're perfectly matched with, and when we see them it just like BAM! And then everything is about that someone. My old alpha broke up with my sister because he met his imprint. Our cousin. "

"That must have been terrible."

_Hermione, I'm so sorry but I just can't be with you any more._

_Are you breaking up with me? Why? Did you meet someone else?_

_I kinda did. I still love you, but there's something about Carabelle! I just can't stop thinking about her. I'm really sorry, Hermione, I am! _

"It was – Leah kept bitching and she was absolutely impossible to be around when we were in wolf form." Hermione gaped at the words.

"How can you say that! Imagine how she felt! To be thrown aside in the blink of a moment because he apparently met 'The Only One'! Imagine the pain she was in!"

"But..." Seth was obviously thrown off by her strong reaction. "Emily _is_ Sam's Only One. He imprinted on her. He couldn't help it – and believe me, he tried! The others told me about that and it really didn't sound nice..."

"It sounds horrible."

"I think it sounds amazing. But enough talking about me and the guys. Tell me about you – you're pretty good at avoid doing that." He grinned and Hermione shook her head.

"What do you want to know?"

"Why you're here. Your explanation before was pretty lousy."

"I can't really tell you that much. I'm not allowed to." She gave him a long hard look while Seth looked at her with a thoughtful look.

"Are you some kind of secret agent?" Hermione's eyes widened before she burst into a laugh.

"A secret agent?" she chuckled. "I guess you can say that..." She smiled at the mental picture and wished for a moment that she had a pair of dark glasses and a cotton coat.

"But why are you so far away from Britain then?"

"I was given an opportunity and I took it. There really wasn't anything left for me in London."

"Boy trouble?" Seth apparently knew the look on her face. Surely from his own sister.

"More like man trouble. But I don't think there's that big a difference." She gave him a weak smile which he apparently didn't notice at all as he was staring at something behind her. "Seth?"

A grin grew on his face. "Jacob's coming." He jumped to his feet and held a hand out to help Hermione up too. She watched as Seth walked to meet the old tow truck and she crawled into the car to find her wand.

She was _not_ not going to meet a the Alpha unarmed.

The wand was stuck between the driver's seat and the stick and truck was parked in front of her when she finally got out of the car.

"Her name's Hermione and she English! Like from London! And she knows about us, man – shape-shifters and vampires and shit!" She supposed Seth meant to whisper, but he obviously had a hard time containing his excitement.

"Calm down, Seth. I'll handle her," a deep voice responded. The sound made Hermione's heart skip a beat and tighten her grip on her wand.

She held it partway hidden behind her leg and she heard the sound of feet nearing her.

Time stopped when Seth and his Alpha came around the corner of the tow truck, and all Hermione could see was a set of deep brown eyes drawing her in. She noticed how the eyes widened and the pupils dilated and only one thought were able to form in her head.

_Oh, bollocks._


	2. Car Fixer

**Disclaimer: Me no owny anything!**

**Author's note: Alright you bastards! Here's the continuation – who am I to deny you anything x) There will be one or two more chapters – but that's it!**

**Enjoy you lovely suckers ;)**

Jacob closed his tool box with a sharp pang, and dropped it onto the front seat. He closed the door and walk to the driver's side while he dried his fingers in a dirty cloth, smearing the motor oil all over his hands instead of getting rid of it. He growled as he threw the cloth towards the tool box and sighed as it missed by a long shot and flew out of the window.

This was turning out to be a ridiculously lousy day.

He had discovered that the Rabbit was leaking oil, and while he was trying to fix that Seth of all people had called – deserting his patrol for the sake of some stranger who was stranded somewhere in the woods.

He was supposed to watch the fucking leeches! And Bella of course.

Jacob hit the steering wheel with a loud yell, and started the car with an angry snap of the key.

Why had she done that to him? She was his best friend, and she had gone and betrayed him like that.

Why he couldn't stop loving her even after that was a mystery to him.

And the rest of his poor pack.

He sighed loudly and turned on the radio to distract him and frowned when it started on a random and very loud country song.

_Who the hell had used this piece of shit tow truck last, 'cause it sure as hell wasn't him._

He tried finding some music, but it all he could find was fucking country, old men talking, and brainless pop music – and the way those pop stars was literally obsessed with love. Let's just say that wasn't his favorite type of music at the moment. He turned the car stereo off again and tried calming himself by counting between in- and exhaling.

The tenseness slowly left his body as he took a moment to open the window and let in the cool and fresh air.

The stupid shape shifting-temper almost got the better of him – again.

Once again he wished that the Cullens had never arrived at Forks, and he would have had the time to win Bella's heart without having to go through obscene shifting and earth shattering heartbreak, oh, and that ridiculous growth spurt – but no. Some fucking ridiculous thing like Fate had decided that Jacob Black _wasn't_ to have it easy. In any way! He was slowly growing more assure in his theory that he never would imprint on anybody – the whole "loving Bella to death and beyond, but she doesn't care a at all about me"-affair had ruined love for him.

And who knew anyway – what if he imprinted on a fucking toddler like Quill had? Or even worse – some old lady!

Feeling his mood improve drastically, Jacob let out an amused chuckle as he imagined how Seth would react if he was the one who imprinted on an old lady. Then how Leah would react if Seth did. Then how Leah would react if she imprinted on some old man. He laughed out loud and contemplated pulling over for a moment to enjoy the joyous feeling he was experiencing.

He hadn't felt this happy in a long time.

He kept driving though and his good mood held on even as he noticed the waving Seth and the old red Honda behind him. Jacob pulled in in front of the car and lifted a questioning eyebrow as Seth threw his door open with an overly excited grin on his face. If he had been in wolf form, he would have wagged his tail.

"You're never going to believe this when I tell you," Seth whispered, although it was barely. Jacob grabbed his tool box and jumped out of the car, fixing his eyes on Seth again. "Her name's Hermione and she English! Like from London! And she knows about us, man – shape-shifters and vampires and shit!"

Jacob flinched as Seth's voice grew louder and frowned, when he realized what he had just been told. "Calm down, Seth," he demanded and started towards the car. "I'll handle her." And the he turned the corner of the truck and he was definitely not sure that he could handle her, but damn if he was going to keep her safe for the rest of his life.

He stared into the deep brown eyes, not able to move them or any of his limbs.

She just stood there, so small, and wide-eyed, and defenseless, screaming for all the bad guys in the world to take advantage of her, but they weren't going to – because she was his and no one was ever going to hurt her again.

"Hi," he finally managed to force past his paralyzed lips and he watched in wonder as her face grew suddenly full of emotions.

"Bloody Hell!" Jacob had to admit that he hadn't expected a reaction like that. The young woman covered her mouth with her hands, a weird stick in one of them while she kept staring at him as if petrified. "No, no, no, no!" She muttered and started slowly walking back to her car.

"Wait," he said advancing at the same speed she was retreating. "Where are you going?"

"This can't be... Merlin's sodden socks, this can't... FUCK!" She threw her stick on the floor and kicked the tire angrily, all the while muttering weird and highly offensive curses under her breath.

"Hey," Seth said behind Jacob. "Don't do that – I just fixed it!"

Jacob turned quicker than a normal person would be able to and growled at his subordinate. He was never going to talk to _his_ woman like that again. Seth backed off a little, holding his hands up in front of him. Jacob turned back to the woman – what _was_ it Seth had called her, Henrietta, Harlotta,? Was that even a name? Anyway, it was something beginning with an H, he was sure – and smiled like his life depended on it. She looked back at him with the same upset look as before.

"I'm Jacob, Jacob Black," he said and held his hand out at her. He wanted nothing more than for her to take it, so he could feel her. And she did. She slowly rose her hand and took his, and it was small and cool and smooth and Jacob had never been this happy before.

Ever.

"Hermione Granger," she sad, clearly hesitating.

"Hi, Hermione." He grinned, trying to show how pleased he was to meet her, but no words nor gesture was big enough. Hermione. That must be the most beautiful name in the world.

"Hi," she said weakly and withdrew her hand. "Listen, Jacob, I'm terribly sorry for saying this, but I really have to get going."

"Yeah, I know," he said, grin still intact. "You car broke down – I'll help you."

She nodded, again showing some hesitancy and crouched to pick of the stick. "I suppose I need it," she said as she stuffed the stick into her pocket and eyed him cautiously.

Jacob popped the hood and eyed the content. _Dammit_, he thought when he located the problem. _Overheated!_

"Do you know anything about cars," he asked when an idea occurred to him.

"Nothing at all!"

"Hmm..." He smiled, this would work fine. "I'll have to take her back to my garage to fix her."

"Her?"

"The car." She nodded absentmindedly and bit her lip thoughtfully. "Do you need a ride?"

A pretty frown formed on her face and all Jacob could think was _please, need a ride – I would drive you anywhere you want!_

"I suppose I do need a lift, if it isn't too much trouble."

"Of course it isn't!" Jacob had the car hooked in record time, and held the door open for Hermione like a true gentleman. English people loved gentlemen, and she sounded English. Right? Oh, yeah, Seth had said she was from London – she was English. But did she like gentlemen?

"Where to," he asked when he turned the tow truck and started driving towards Forks. Hermione pulled a purse into her lap and started pulling rolls of old paper up. There could be a lot more than he had imagined.

"Hold on a minute, I think I have an address somewhere." She unrolled some of the rolls and quickly perused the content, still with that adorable frown that made Jake want to reach over and run his finger over her eyebrow.

"You know, I've lived around here all my life. If you have a place you need to go, I'll know the location without an address."

Hermione gave him a long look and shrugged. "If you think so. I need to go see the vampire coven, the Cullens, I think Seth called them."

Jake stopped the car abruptly and with a loud screech, and Hermione silently thanked the gods for wearing a seatbelt.

"You're going to see the _leeches_?" he hissed.

"Leeches is very demeaning, please call them vampires, or I'll have to refer to your shape shifting as you being a dog." Jacob would have been deeply hurt, if he wasn't so damn worried about her safety and sanity.

"Why the hell would you want to see the damn bloodsuckers?" he asked his anger growing steadily for every second he was without answer. He was going to kill the entire bunch of useless glittering undeads!

"Language," Hermione scolded and hit him lightly on the arm with the scroll she was holding. "And I'm going to visit the coven because it's my job."

Jacob narrowed his eyes at her a moment, before starting to drive again. "Fine," he growled. "But I'm coming with you, you never know what those damn... those vampires will do." He started angrily at the road in front of them and missed the way Hermione had to look out the window to hide her smile.

He braked a moment later and looked over at the scowling Hermione with a confused look.

"Are you trying to kill me? I would have been dead if I wasn't wearing a seatbelt! What exactly do you think will happen-"

"How come you know about us?"

"-if you keep stopping like this? Who us?" She looked deliciously angry, Jacob registered somewhere in the back of his brain, but that wasn't the important thing right now. The most important thing he had forgotten about for several minutes.

"Us – shapeshifters and vampires. How do you know about us?"

She shrugged and collected her scroll from where they had fallen at her feet. "It's my job. And I've read all the books on vampire lore I could come across. Of course I would stumble across some book on werewolves and shapeshifters too."

"You know everything about us?" He couldn't help the hopeful tone in his voice, but if she knew about imprinting, it would be a lot easier.

"I think Seth filled me in on the things I didn't know like," she gave him a resigned look, "imprinting."

_Oh, joy!_

"So you know what's happening?" he grinned at her.

"I understand what you're going through, it doesn't mean that I like it! I'm not a big fan of the entire 'love at first sight'-lore." She wiped the dust from her hands and looked determined out of the front window. Jake started driving again.

"It's not like I can help it," he muttered and noticed her sighing deeply, lifting her chest in the most attractive way he had ever seen. "And it's a lot deeper than love... I just..." he saw her looking pointedly at him out of the corner of his eyes. "... I just want to protect you." He smiled apologetically to her and decided he should concentrate on driving them to the leeches place.

They drove in silence for a while before Jacob couldn't hold back a new question he just _had_ to ask.

"So you're English?" Hermione nodded. "So you have to go back to England after you're done here?" She looked at him for a long time.

"That _is_ where I live."

Jacob nodded slowly. "But you job, it doesn't exist in the States?"

"It exist all over the world, but the... Headquarters in London."

"So, in reality," Jacob started with a growing smile, "you don't have to go back to England? You could live here and just go visit sometimes?"

"Can we do this later?" Hermione asked with a sigh, and he knew he couldn't do anything but give a heartbroken sigh and park the car as they arrived at their destination.

"Cullen residence."


	3. Car Owners

**Disclaimer: Not my shit, only the plot which I hate a bit right now...**

**Author's note: This story sucks! It wanted to be written so badly that I couldn't concentrate on my homework, and look at this – now it's all done! Like finished-done! But I am a mean sucker, so I'll update today, next chapter Wednesday, and the epilogue Friday. **

**You better like it; here's Meet the Cullens.**

"Can we do this later?" she asked and fought the urge to rub her eyes. Jacob was very handsome, and she wasn't going to lie by claiming she wasn't attracted to him, but he was acting like a clingy puppy right now! Fortunately he knew when to keep quiet, even if he had to give a deep heartbroken sigh before pulling into the small side-street. She looked out of the window curiously and couldn't say she was surprised when she took in the big house.

"Cullen residence," Jacob exclaimed and she got out with a resigned lifted eyebrow. Vampires – they never grow tired of flashy things. They probably had a sport scar each hidden somewhere too.

Probably some secret underground garage.

She checked her appearance in the side mirror and sighed with content when she saw how Jacobs erratic driving hadn't done anything to mess up her hair. But then again, with the amount of products (recommended by Lavender Brown, who was wizarding Britain's new fashion guru) it better stay in shape. She made sure her mental walls were in place, shot the shapeshifter a look across the front of the tow truck, and walked swiftly without a second glance to the front door.

Which opened before she could lift her hand to knock.

Considering the obvious race of the girl in front of her, it wasn't really surprising either.

"I'm here to see Mr. Carlisle," Hermione stated. Her papers only held the first name of the sire of the coven since they tended to change last names as they moved around. The vampire girl nodded and gave her a big smile as she gesture for her to step inside.

"Please come in," she said, and Hermione finally noticed how the vampire seemed to vibrate from energy. "And you too Jacob." Hermione looked back over her shoulder and was momentarily shaken when she noticed how close he was standing to her. How did a man his size manage to come this close without alarming her, she couldn't help but wonder, especially with her war-reflexes still in perfect shape. She scowled at him and stepped inside.

For some reason, and this was hard to admit, it _did_ make her feel a bit more secure that Jacob was likely to die in the attempt of assuring her safety. She still didn't like to step into the home of vampire covens – even if they were vegetarian. Vampires would be vampires – no matter what diet they were on.

She followed the vampire as she danced into a big sitting room where seven additional vampires were obviously waiting for her. She recognized the vampires from her notes and the reports her predecessor had left her, and she thought to herself that the only one she didn't recognize must be the illusive Bella, that Seth told her about.

"Hi Jacob," she said with a small uncertain voice that made Hermione want to scold her and tell her to straighten her back and speak up.

"Bella," was Jacob's court answer and Hermione fought the insisting smile as the hopeful one on Bella's face fell. It annoyed her to no end, when women acted small and weak. What good did it do them anyway? She looked at the new vampire for a while, trying to pin down what seemed so off about her.

"Am I to rest assured, that the new born won't try to drink my blood?" She directed her question, when she realized it was the slightly red tinge to the vampires eyes, at the sleek looking blond that she identified as Carlisle, but the ginger vampire was the one to answer.

"Of course she won't," he said with a strongly insulted air. "Bella has shown extreme restraint around humans and we went hunting yesterday anyway."

Three things made Hermione almost see red and it was only her self control that kept her from expressing her anger. One, the adoring look the copper-haired vampire, which she thought must be Edward, gave Bella. Two, the fact that his hair was so close in colour to Ron's. And three, that Bella had let her mate speak for her.

She showed no character what so ever!

"Al right," Hermione said, and continued with what she was actually there for. "I better introduce myself. I'm Hermione Granger, and I've taken over from Bernard Elkhart, who I'm sure almost all of you know. For the newcomers I can tell that I work with the British Ministry of Magic in the Department for Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. I'm here a bit early for the usual visit that you receive once every decade because the Ministry have noticed some weird muggle-disappearances around here. Now, I'm quite aware that _you_ don't really care whether you sit of stand, but it will be much easier for _me_ to take notes if I sit."

"Of course, please forgive us our insolence," a female vampire with softly curling caramel coloured locks, that Hermione couldn't help but envy said. "Please have a seat," she gestured at the sofa and coffee-table and Hermione sat down, pulling ink, parchment and a quill from her purse. She looked up to see Jacob looking cautiously around when the sofa plunged. She sighed quietly and opened the ink.

"To start I must say that I feel lucky to have caught all of you at the same time, I don't recall any of Bernard's or any of his predecessor's reports describing meeting all of you at once." She smiled gracefully.

"That's because our future disappeared," the small vampire said, and Hermione was beyond convince that she was in fact Alice, the psychic.

"Disappeared," Hermione said and started writing furiously. "How so?"

"That's because Jacob's with you – I can' see around the werewolves."

"Wolf shaped shapeshifters," Hermione corrected automatically and looked at Jacob who was smiling, obviously very satisfied with the effect he had on the vampire's abilities. She wrote the new information down in her normal rapid speed and looked up to find Bella looking at her with big confused eyes. "Can I help you?"

Bella looked even more confused for a moment before collecting herself and giving the witch a weak smile. "Oh, I was just wondering exacly _why_ Jacob's here."

"He imprinted on Ms. Granger, Bella," Edward said in a soft voice and Hermione rubbed her eyes as they started on a subject she really didn't want to discuss.

"He did what!" Bella looked at Jacob with big mournful eyes and she would probably have been fighting tears if it wasn't for the fact that she as a vampire was incapable of crying. "That's..." Bella blinked a couple of times and took a deep unnecessary breath. "That's wonderful," she declared with a brave smile and Hermione wanted for a moment to feel sorry for her, but then she remembered the red-headed bastard that was scowling at Jacob and all forgiveness left her.

"Oh for Rowena's sake," she exclaimed. "If Bella is going to act like that, I would much prefer for this to be brief." Carlisle nodded with an apologetic smile and Hermione felt a sense of calm overflow her. "Would you _not_ do that?" she asked with a pointed look at the young man with the curly blond, whom she was very certain was Jasper. Her anger and annoyance returned and she gave him a tight smiled "thank you.".

"Do Bella have a gift?" she asked in her usual professional way.

"She's a shield," Carlisle answered after a brief look at Edward. "Some vampiric gifts doesn't affect her, and we're working on making her shield cover more than just herself." Hermione nodded and wrote rapidly what he had said.

"Define _some _vampiric gifts."

"Those of a mental character I think describes it best. Edward can't read her mind-"

"And couldn't even when she was a human," Jacob shot in and Hermione gave him a look that told him very clearly to keep his bloody mouth shut while the grown-ups were talking.

"Please continue," she told Carlisle and went back to writing.

"I don't think there's more to say. She has an impressive sense of restraint and never reacts when temped with human blood."

"Impressive," Hermione muttered as she wrote, her eyes fixed on her parchment.

"I can't read your thoughts either," Edward said suddenly and she looked up to find him staring intensely at her. "Why is that?"

"Magic," she stated and returned to her writing. A low growl from Jacob made her look up at him, frowning. "Will you stop doing that, I'm more than capable of taking care of myself."

She sighed and wrote_ Edward's mind reading doesn't effect practitioner's of Occlumency._ with swift movements.

"Anything else about your gifts that you think I should know about?" The vampires looked at each other and shook their heads. "Al right, then I think I only need to speak to a few of you concerning the recent disappearances." She smiled her professional smile and felt very much relieved when Bella and Edward left closely followed by the tall, beautiful blonde she had deducted was Rosalie and her mate, the very bulky Emmett.

"Do you need anything?" Es me asked with a smile, and Hermione couldn't help but appreciate her friendly gesture.

"A cup of tea if you don't mind?" she answered. "To sugar and no milk, please." Esme nodded and left the sitting room and the witch took a moment to appreciate the obvious grace of the vampires movements.

"Disappearances and if you don't mind explaining why your neighbours are shapeshifters too?"

Carlisle began a long and very detailed tale of how they had first come to Forks and the deal they made with the local tribe. Then he started on the story of three vampires that had shown in their town and attempted to kill Bella and of the remaining vampire who had started creating an army of newborns.

"Newborns?" The vampires and Jacob nodded. "An army?" They nodded again and something seemed irrevocably familiar. She started looking through the scrolls in her purse until she gave up and fixed her eyes on Jasper's brooding figure behind Alice, who was seated in a deep armchair. "If I remember correctly, and please tell me if I'm wrong, you were a participant in the Southern Vampire Wars, didn't you Mr. Whitlock?"

"I was," he replied with a solemn nod.

"Were you brought to court afterwards?"

Alice looked up at the obviously very confused vampire. "Brought to court?" he asked and Hermione sighed.

"For your actions towards the human race?" He shook his head slowly. "I take it you weren't present when the wizarding community intervened in 1978?"

"No, I left long before that." Hermione nodded and after a moment she pulled a thick scroll up from her purse. She quickly perused it and looked back up at the curly haired vampire.

"I take it you weren't aware, that your sire, Maria, was executed for her actions in 1979?" At his shake of his head Hermione nodded and stashed the scroll back in her purse. "Right." She made a note. "Well, I'll be informing the American Ministry about your location and then they'll summon you to a hearing at some point."

Hermione grew a bit uneasy and Jacob started to fidget nervously beside her, which lead her to give the empath a friendly smile. "I'm sure there won't be any troubles with the hearing. They'll just pump you with Verita Serum, ask a couple of questions and then you'll be off. And of course," she added. "Please control your gift. Wizards do _not_ like to be manipulated. In any way." She collected her scrolls and dumped then into the once very organized purse. "And that was it, I believe." She shook hands with the vampires and thanked Esme for the tea before leaving the house with Jacob right at her heels.

A relieved sigh escaped her when she caught sight of the batted up tow truck. She didn't mind vampires at all, but it was tiring watching one's behaviour around such a big coven, with so many great gifts.

_Speaking of the devil_.

Bella stepped in front of the advancing witch and made her come to a sudden halt, that resulted in Jacob walking in to her, making her stagger a bit before he stabilized her with an arm around her waist.

"Jacob," Bella started while Hermione simultaneously hissed, "That was not necessary, _Jacob_. I'm perfectly able of taking care of myself," with a bit more anger that she really intended.

The, admittedly very comfortably warm, arm disappeared from around her and Hermione took a deep breath to collect herself. She fixed her gaze on the vampire in front of her who looked a bit miffed.

"Mrs. Bella, can I help you?" she asked politely. A sudden mental image of her hexing the vampire so hard she returned to her human state appeared in her mind and she fought the urge to smirk, which was very unladylike and something only Malfoys did. _Wonder what the old ferret did now?_

"I wanted to talk to Jacob," the vampire said lowly, effectively drawing Hermione back from her line of thought. She nodded and walked up to the car, taking care that she didn't have too much distance between herself and Bella without accidentally coming to close and actually touching her.

Vampires could be rather extreme when they thought themselves insulted – she had learned that the hard way.

"Jacob-"

"We don't have anything to talk about, Bella," she heard as she opened her door. She got in to the car and noticed how Bella was looking after Jacob with the same hurt look she had seen in the sitting room a small hour before. Jacob was walking rapidly to the truck and Hermione was very relieved when Edward showed up to take Bella's hand as the shapeshifter opened the door and got into the car. The newborn vampire looked like she would very much like to follow her friend and _make_ him talk to her.

"Drive, please," Hermioen said quietly and noticed how her voice sounded slightly pleading. But she couldn't help it, could she? Look what she was stuck with; a clingy puppy with a ton of baggage!

But then again. She wasn't exactly baggage-less herself.

_Bloody stupid life._


	4. Car Wreck

**Disclaimer: No changes. If anything **_**do**_** change, you'll be the first to know! Next after the lawyer I hire...**

**Author's Note: Awesome detail in the end! Anyways – update Friday unless enough people beg me to post it tomorrow, in which case I will... ^^**

"Drive, please," Hermione asked, and there were a pleading note to her voice that made sure Jacob didn't need to be asked that twice. He sped out of the driveway faster than ever, which was rather impressive considering the state of his vehicle.

Which was pretty pathetic.

The state of the car, that is.

He shot his imprint a worried look. He had been a bit hurt about the way she had brushed both of his attempt to help away, but her well-being was his top-priority anyway and she looked tense and tired.

"Are you alright?" he asked. "Is there somewhere I can take you?"

She sighed and pulled her purse into her lap, once again pulling up ancient-looking scrolls. "Who's in charge of you shapeshifters?"

"Sam and I are alphas. We've got two packs. And then there's the Elders. They are kinda like... advisors? And they know all the old legends and stuff." He smiled to her. God, she was beautiful.

"I would like to meet one of your Elders then. It would be nice to get this over with in a day."

A moment went by without anything out of the ordinary happening. Then Jacob practically stood on the brake again.

"You're going to leave?" he asked incredulously, his eyes big and a tiny bit scared.

"Of course," she answered with a furious glance at him and then at the scrolls that had dropped to her feet. "And do you _have_ to do that every two minutes?"

"But you – you can't leave!" His throat burned a bit and he was very much afraid that he would begin to cry if she didn't deny it. "I- you're- I can't- please don't leave me – I don't think I could handle that!"

"Listen, Jacob," Hermione said with a sigh and repositioned herself in her seat so she was facing what she probably didn't know was a teenager. "I know you like this 'imprinting'-idea, but I don't believe in love at first sight. It's illogical and improbable-"

"But it's true! I felt it – my entire world shrunk and focused on you! You're everything to me, I don't care about anybody else. Don't tell me you didn't feel it too!"

He hit a chord with her somewhere in his small speech, he could see that. Her eyes grew blank and he hoped _so_ much that it was happy tears.

It wasn't.

Her hand shot out and hit his shoulder, and he was certain that if he hadn't been a shapeshifter and thereby much tougher than most people it would have hurt like hell. Instead she was the one to whimper and cradle her hand.

"Ouch," she said silently and Jacob's heart constricted when he noticed a lonely tear escape her tight control and slide down her face.

He leaned over, not noticing that he unbuckled his seatbelt and enveloped her in his arms, pressing her face into the nook of his shoulder.

"Sorry," he whispered, and he heard the muffled sob as she started to cry into his collarbone, making his shirt slowly grow damp from her tears. "I'm so, so sorry, and I don't even know what I did wrong, although I'm pretty sure it was something I said..." She chuckled quietly and drew a bit back and out of his embrace. He wiped her cheeks with his thumb and gave her a small smile.

Her eyes were swollen and her nose a bit red.

He was pathetic.

She had never been prettier than this.

"I'm sorry," she said and rubbed the hand she had hit him with slowly. "It's not your fault, really. It's not like you could know..."

He wanted to know. Really, really bad. But she didn't want to continue, he could tell, so he just shrugged and fastened his seatbelt again and started driving towards the reservation. "Where are you going when you're done," he asked and did his utmost to sound casual.

"Wyoming."

"I think you should stay the night then. It's a long trip, you know." He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye and knew from her small smile that she had caught on to his line of thought.

"I've got magic remember, Jacob?" She gave him a bigger smile and he had been wrong, she was by far the prettiest when she was smiling. It was literally breathtaking. "I can be there in the blink of an eye, really."

"I think you should stay the night anyway. And probably a day extra, you know to regain strength and stuff. You look a bit stressed out. When did you last take a holiday?"

She chuckled again, and the atmosphere in the truck lightened, erasing the dull feeling her breakdown had left.

"I had a week off in June, I'll have you know. A lot of people count on me – I'm very high demand!" She smiled brightly and Jacob did too.

"I understand that. But I still think you need a break if your last holiday was three months ago! And if you took some time I'm pretty sure that you'll figure out that I am a pretty decent guy – not at all a bad choice for a soul mate!" Even if his vocabulary was pretty crappy.

Hermione looked down at her purse a long time and picked up the scrolls from the floor. She collected them in her lap and looked into her purse for another long moment before sighing and somehow dropping the scrolls into it.

Jacob was pretty sure there was something magic about that purse of hers.

Back to the problem at hand.

"Please?" he tried in a small pleading voice and he shot her a flash of his best puppy dog eyes. "You could probably use some time to organize your notes and stuff too?"

"Alright," she finally said and Jacob felt like singing with joy. He had a day and a half to convince her that he was his soul mate just as much as she was his – no problem!

And with that thought he pulled up in front of his father's house.

xXx

She looked around as she stepped out of the car, slowly memorizing her surroundings so it would be easier to apparate back when she needed. And quickly shoved that thought back to the one of the furthest and darkest corners of her mind, where it belonged. She looked over at Jacob who was grinning at a man in a wheelchair who was sitting on the porch smiling back.

"Hi Dad," Jacob called and Hermione was a bit annoyed that he had taken her to meet his parents instead of the tribe's Elders as she had asked him to. "Hermione, this is my Dad, Billy Black, he's one of the tribe's Elders and I'm sure he'll answer all of your questions while I set up some sleeping arrangements!"

_Oh, well,_ Hermione thought, and felt bad for thinking bad about Jacob, and lucky for not voicing her annoyance. She walked up the few steps to the porch and greeted the invalid man with a polite and somewhat professional smile. "Hello Mr. Black, I'm Hermione Granger and I come from the British Ministry of Magic. I don't know if you know of us?" He nodded and took her outstretched hand, giving it a firm shake with matching polite smile.

"Please come inside, Ms. Granger," he said and gestured for her to enter.

It was small and a bit cramped and somehow reminded her of the Weasley-residence which made her bite her lip nervously. She followed him as he rolled into the sitting room and she lowered herself into the low sofa.

"Jacob, will you bring us some refreshment – what can we tempt you with, Ms. Granger? Water, juice, milk? Coffee, tea?"

"A cup of tea, please," Hermione said gratefully and started pulling her writing equipment from her bag.

"To sugars no milk, right?" Jacob asked from the door and Hermione nodded, slightly taken aback that he remembered. Billy seemed to have noticed too and looked after the disappearing figure of his son with a frown.

"You said you knew about the Ministry, Mr. Black?" Hermione asked, wanting to finish her business as quickly as possible. And she had a question she wanted to ask without her new puppy staring at her. Even if he was kind of growing on her.

He had been surprisingly understanding about her burst of emotions, which she wouldn't think of again.

"My father told me about last time you were around. I was just a child then but he explained it when I got older." Hermione nodded and unscrewed the top of her portable inkwell. "I wanted to contact you people and let you know about us shifting again, but I didn't know how to."

"That is perfectly al right, Mr. Black, we haven't had any problems with your tribe before and we don't expect any to appear in the future, but I would like to ask some questions to improve our knowledge about your tribe's history and lore." The older man gave her a graceful nod and she smiled at him before finally asking the question she had wanted answered fully the entire day. "What exactly does _imprinting_ mean?"

And that was the moment Jacob chose to return, holding a cup in his hands which he carefully placed in front of Hermione on the coffee table with a big grin and an attitude that would remind even the casual passer-by of that of a dog wagging it's tail. Billy Black looked at his son with a frown again, then at Hermione and then back at Jacob, and his frown turned into a tired mask.

"Jacob, will you let me and Ms. Granger talk in privacy for a moment?" he asked and Jacob looked liked he wanted to protest for a moment before leaving with a deeply insulted look on his face. He reminded Hermione of a petulant child and she briefly wondered how young he was – Seth had seemed a lot younger than he looked too.

"So..." Billy started and gave Hermione a long contemplating look. "Jake's imprinted on you?"

"That's what he told me," she replied solemnly and took a small sip of her tea, which was absolutely delightful and frighteningly perfect.

"But he hasn't properly explained?"

"Seth was the one who introduce me for the concept. Jacob merely contributed with a bit of subjective extra information." She leaned back in the sofa and watched amusement spread on the man's face.

"Seth? Seth Clearwater?" She nodded. He laughed. "I guess you need an extensive explanation then," he said and started filling in the holes of her knowldge.

xXx

She had slept in the sitting room after a longer discussion with Jacob, who insisted on being the one to sleep on the sofa. He had eventually given up as she stubbornly held on to the fact that she was a guest and didn't require a bed. In the morning he wouldn't let her sort out her parchment in peace and she let him direct her to the garage, where she cleaned a table and a chair with a sigh and started sorting out the bloody mess she had made in her purse.

She was now drawing doodles as she watched Jacob work on her wrecked car out of the corner of her eyes. She highly suspected him of exaggerating the problems as he seemed to glance over at her every few minutes and the rest of the times seemingly tighten random screws and car-things in the car's engine.

After an especially long glance from his side, she sighed and packed her quill, ink, parchment into her purse and looked at him expectantly. He jumped away from the car with a big grin as he wiped his hands with a dirty cloth he had in his back pocket.

"Done?" he asked as he watched her pull the purse onto her shoulder and walk slowly towards him.

"Yes," she nodded and looked at the car. "I could ask you the same thing."

"I'm done, yeah. Did a few improvements too – she'll run like was just assembled," he said with a nod and his grin grew impossibly wider. "Want to go for a walk?"

She did. It was a bit tiresome to sort out papers for so long, and she could really use a thorough stretch of her legs, so she nodded with a smile and a small "yes".

He grabbed her hand and she thought, as he pulled her outside, that she didn't really mind the way he felt; warm and callous and a bit greasy from motor oil. He pulled her to his car and jumped inside with the big grin still plastered on his face. She sighed and hoped they weren't going to drive very far, sitting was slowly driving her crazy when she had to watch him practically radiate nervous energy.

He drove to the beach and took her hand again as they exited the car. He lead her along the shore in silence until they came to a spot which bore obvious traces from previous bonfires. He settled on a rock and pulled Hermione down on the one beside him.

"We have bonfires here sometimes," he started and she really wanted to roll her eyes as he stated what she had already realized herself. "The packs do it together, so we eat a lot of food and have fun all night. I think you'll really like the pack."

"Jacob, please," Hermione warned and hoped he would let the subject go.

"No, I really think you will! And my beta, Leah – Dad explained about betas, right?" He looked down at her and she shrugged.

"Betas – second in command, I guess."

"Yeah, like that." He smiled and Hermione was surprised when she felt something warm spread in the pit of her stomach at the sight. _She wasn't, right? She couldn't be... Not this fast? _"But anyway, I think you'll like her too, she reminds me al lot of you. All strong and independent woman," he said with a smile and Hermione would have hit him if the memory of last time wasn't so damn clear in her mind.

That and she secretly loved being called strong and independent.

"I'm sorry to ruing the mood, Jacob, but this imprint-phenomenon... I don't like it. At all," she said and she was terribly sorry to ruin the mood but she couldn't let him hope when she knew she was going to let him down.

Because she was.

Right?

"Why does it bother you so much?" he asked in a sudden burst of anger that made Hermione give him a cold look and withdraw her hand from his grasp. He looked down at the loss of contact and the anger seemed to seep of his body to be replaced by sadness.

"Don't look so down," she said as she tried to comfort him a bit. "It can't come as a surprise to you – I've been pretty cold to you the entire time."

"But you were warming up to me!" he exclaimed and Hermione felt a jolt of bad consciousness.

"I'm sorry if I led you on," she whispered and knew he heard it anyway.

They sat in silence for several minutes before Jacob decided to ask, "Why _is_ it you dislike the idea so much anyway?" and Hermione felt her heart sink.

"My boyfriend through eight years suddenly decided that he was in love with someone else. Apparently love at first sight," she admitted slowly and hated how it still made her heart ache.

Jacob was rendered speechless for a while. "Eight years?" he asked cautiously and Hermione nodded slowly. "How _old_ are you?"

"Wha- you don't ask a _lady_ something like that, you git!" Hermione cried and shoved him as hard as she could, making him sway a little as he laughed thunderously. She tightened her her jacket around her against the chilly breeze and silenced descended upon them again. A small smile lingered on her lips.

"But maybe," Jacob started softly and she glanced up at his face which was facing the ocean. "If you were together for _eight_ years... and you were still boyfriend and girlfriend... maybe that means you both actually _knew_ that you weren't mean to be?" She watched as his gaze slid from the endless water in front of them and down to her face and she had to look away as she felt tears well up in her eyes.

"I guess that's right... But- but it still hurt!" She buried her face in her hands as the tears started running down her cheeks. She felt the warms hand grab her and lift her into Jacob's lap and she buried her face in his torso as she sobbed. He caressed her hair and rocked her slowly back and forth as he murmured comforting words in her ear and he was so warm, sheltering her from the early October coolness. It was so safe and comforting and she could just stay there forever.

_Oh, bollocks._

**Full circle! Yay!**


	5. Car Ignorants

**Disclaimer: Really? You expect anything to have changed? Seriously?**

**Author's Note: This. Is. It! The Epilogue, and The End. You will, perhaps, be a bit confused as you read this – that is entirely Jacob's fault! He keeps making stupid assumptions that are almost, but not the complete truth, it's very confusing – for me even! Anyway, I hope you enjoy this last chapter of the story that made me abandon my homework and write furiously for a couple of hours.**

Epilogue.

Jacob hummed as he checked the oil on the old wreck Seth had bought from some hiker he had met in the woods. He had finished with his homework and the work Sam had paid him to do with his truck and was really just spending the time before Hermione would come home. He put the wrench down and leaned against the old Mazda as he smiled fondly.

That witch was he most amazing woman in the world, and that was _not_ the imprint speaking! He jumped away from the car and skipped merrily towards the door when he heard the familiar crack from Hermione apa-appe-appearing and threw the door open with a big smile. And frowned when he took in the appearance of the furious looking redhead in front of him. She fixed her eyes on him and crossed the space between them in a few long strides while several other cracks sounded and three additional persons appeared.

"Are you the one who's keeping her from home?" the small red-haired woman inquired poking him in the chest with a long freckled finger.

"Er..." Jacob said as he looked between her and other people which he all assumed were witches and wizards. Two of each to be exact.

"Er?" The red-head continued her eyes blazing with anger. The other newcomers looked satisfied with her doing the talking – or at least the wizards did. The blonde witch looked around with an absent look, apparently oblivious to the scene in front of her. "_Er_? Is that all you have to say? You keep my best friend – no offence Luna."

"None taken, Ginny," the blonde replied staring into the sky a few feet above Jacobs head.

The red-head, who was apparently called Ginny continued without losing the thread, "from hanging out with me for _two months_, and all you have to say is _er?_"

"Would you to come inside?" Jacob asked, finally regaining his wits and some manners.

"Please," the tall dark-haired wizard said and offered Jacob a very small smile. Jacob gestured with a hand for the others to follow him as he stepped onto the porch.

"What's this?" Jacob looked over his shoulder at the tall, red-headed wizard who was pointing at the ramp for Billy's wheelchair. If he thought about it the red-headed witch and wizard shared quite a few familiarities, and he reasoned that they probably were related.

"It's a ramp," the dark-haired wizard replied for Jacob and he took the red-headed Ginny's hand. He said something to her in a low voice and she calmed down a bit although her eyes kept shooting daggers at Jacob, so he hurried inside.

"Why would he have a _ramp_?" The tall red-head asked as he entered the kitchen and threw his long body into a chair. He watched Jacob move around in a strange thoughtful way, that made the shapeshifter feel nervous as if he was being evaluated in some way.

"I don't know, Ron, why don't you ask the man himself?" the other wizard answered and pulled a chair out for the witch, and Jacob guessed that she was his girlfriend, before sitting down beside her, fixing his eyes on Jacob. They were alarmingly green.

"Why the ramp, mate?" the red-headed wizard called Ron asked.

"Erm," Jacob started and frowned at the blonde as she went over and started inspecting the inside of the fridge. "It's er..."

"And again with the er!" Ginny exclaimed with narrowed and crossed her arms across her chest. "But now it brought a _friend_."

"It's for my father's wheelchair," Jacob exclaimed and the wizards had the decency to look a bit ashamed.

For a while

"You still live with you Dad?" Ron asked and the blonde Luna left the fridge for the sake of the kitchen cabinets above the stove.

"Yeah," Jacob answered, his eyes moving swiftly between the guests at the table and their restless friend.

"How old are you, mate?" Jacob wasn't really that familiar with the term _mate_, but he was pretty sure it wasn't meant as condescending as the Ron-guy made it sound.

"Er- 17!" He said before the angry little red-head could complain about his vocabulary again. "I'm 17."

"17!" the wizard Jacob didn't know the name of exclaimed, and rose from the chair with force enough to make it fall over. "You're almost ten years younger than her!"

Jacob hadn't known that. He knew he was older, but for Heaven's sake – they looked the same age and it felt like it too! Most of the time anyway. Some it, then! Geeze...

"Don't make such a fuss, Harry," Luna said with a definitely dreamy quality to her voice, and very surprisingly right behind the frustrated teenager. "Remember how you were when you were 16. You were already fighting Voldemort and – oh! Burblemidges!" She wandered into the bathroom and Jacob was just able to see it in the mirror as she started waving her arms around in the air. Someone clearing their throat made him turn around and look back on the magical people around his dining table.

"I blame you, Ron," Ginny accused her maybe-brother and glared at him. "If you hadn't left her, she wouldn't have to go out and snog the first the best willing bloke she met. And this far away!"

In the following deep silence you could, if you held your breath and listened very carefully, hear the sound of thoughts connecting in Jacob's mind with a distant clicking noise. If you didn't bother listening you could also see as realization dawned on him and his eyes darkened with an anger that made even the renowned wizard and acclaimed saviour of the world, Harry James Potter, shiver.

"You," Jacob hissed though clenched teeth and one Ginevra Potter, born Weasley, was suddenly very sorry that she apparently was the cause of her youngest brother's death. "You are the one who abandoned her!" Jacob was in front of Ron in two steps and pulled him to his feet were he stood almost as tall as Jacob himself. Unfortunately – for him – he wasn't nearly as bulky and he therefore felt quite intimidated.

Who cares about age when the bloke looked like he could end your pathetic excuse for a life with a single right hook?

"How dare you cause her so much-" A loud crack outside interrupted him and every person in the kitchen turned their heads towards the door as they waited.

The door opened as if in slow motion and revealed a familiar witch with a tight hair-do and tired, but pretty face. She took in the scene in front of her – the witch with her crossed arms, the chair that had fallen to the floor and the shapeshifter who was clutching the shirt of a wizard.

"Put Ron down will you, Jake?" With a last glower Jacob let go of the wizard's shirt and he sat heavily as he that he didn't have any muscles left in his legs. "Harry, pick up your chair and take a seat – Jacob, you too." She walked over and pressed a soft kiss to Jacob's lips before turning to face her friends.

"I a very disappointed in you, Harry and Ron. I expected something like this from Ginny," the witch in question smirked briefly, but a stern glance from Hermione replaced it with a guilty look. "You are all grown-ups, as am I, and I expect that you act your age and accept my decisions. This is Jacob Black and he imprinted on me. It means that we are soul mates – even if we have absolutely nothing in common." She smiled to Jacob who grinned back.

"Nothing whatsoever," he contributed and she went on.

"You will not come and scare the living daylights out of my boyfriend just because you feel I've abandoned you lately – that is absolutely-"

"Hullo Hermione," Luna said as she entered the room with a absent-minded smile on her lips. "I like you shapeshifter, he takes good care of his Burblemidges." She jumped onto the kitchen table and started turning off and on the water while humming a tune Jacob didn't recognize.

After a moment where Hermione had apparently lost the ability to speak, she regained her senses and shot Ginny and incredulous glare. "You brought Luna?"

"I thought she would add some spice to the 'shovel-speech'!"

"'Shovel-speech'? Ginny," Hermione groaned and dropped down onto Jacob's lap while rubbing her eyes as she always did when she grew tired with the situation. "Did you watch Buffy _again_?"

Ginny nodded with a sheepish smile and Jacob intertwined his and Hermione's fingers. She turned slightly to look at him.

"I sorry about this, Jake, but apparently this is my friends' version of Leah's 'if you make him kill himself I will end you'-speech."

He nodded and kissed her cheek, not noticing how it made Ron scrunch his nose and mouth '_eeeew_' to his sister who smiled back cheekily.

"I expected nothing less," he smiled and she leaned back against his chest so she could punish her friends by giving them the stink-eye.

***Gives the story the stink-eye* I've never been happier to have completed a story. I for some reason despise this _thing_!**


End file.
